Beneath The Surface
by lillie-sun1
Summary: The battle with Naraku is over, the shard is complete! What is to become of the heroes we’ve come to love and cherish? Please RR! InuxKag :: MirxSan :: SessxKag Chapter Two is up!
1. The Epic Battle

A/N: Well, this is my first fanfiction, and we all know that I've read just about a million of them! (It's about time, right? Haha.) I don't even think there are 1 million InuYasha fanfics on this site…! Eh whatever. Oh by the way, the only other fanfictions I read besides IY is JtHM or… yeah, anything by Jhonen Vasquez. Though, this one is an InuYasha one! I just rock so much! ..err heh I know, "Shut up and get to it already!" So fine, here yah go!!

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha… wahh!!! L

Summary :: The battle with Naraku is over, the shard is complete! What is to become of the heroes we've come to love and cherish? InuxKag :: MirxSang :: SessxKag

Story :: Beneath The Surface

Chapter One :: An Epic Battle

The battle with Naraku was drawing to an end, and the Shikon Shard would finally be complete, if only the shard hunters could conjure the will to attach them all. Of course, the fight so far had not been an easy one, and would leave our heroes lying without strength on the battlefield. During the brawl, InuYasha had used the wind scar several times, and received an immense amount of blows to the head, which left him feeling fatigued and dizzy. A little before this epic battle came to an end, Kagura used her ability to control the wind to beat InuYasha to the ground and knock him unconscious.

Kagura was weak at the time, and fainted after using such an immense amount of her power. Naraku noticed that he was weakening, and his incarnations were dying off. Kanna was long dead, and Kagura could be proclaimed as such. Even Lady Kikyo had been killed, and to everybody's surprise, by the bare hands of the irritated haynou that once loved this woman. She had betrayed him, though. She was fighting on the very person who pinned them against each other, his side. Upset and angry, he thrashed over to her and within a matter of minutes, she was gone.

Before Kikyo had been torn to pieces by InuYasha, she shot an arrow at Miroku which struck him in the ribs. Such a blow knocked him to the ground, but it did not kill him; it just left him unconscious, lying on the floor. Kirara darted over to the fallen Miroku, just to be attached further by Naraku. Before she could be killed, she decided flee from him, not in an act of cowardice, though. She just knew she had no way to defeat him alone, so she backed off, knowing her place, realizing that it was not her turn or time.

Cursing under his breath at such unfortune, Naraku attacked the small and fragile Shippo, leaving him hanging onto his life by less than a thread. The strike would have killed the poor dear if Sango did not use her gigantic boomerang to shield the little guy from the rest of the hit. As Naraku directed his attention towards Sango, Shippo lay there motionless, but still breathing. Since he could not move, he decided to lay there in hopes that the evil half-demon would declare him as dead, and leave him be. 'So far, so good,' he thought as the world slowly faded from his vision.

"Watch out, Sango!" Kagome called as Kohaku, her brother under Narakus spell, attempted to hit his sister with his weapon. Thinking that everybody else had been killed, the haynou sat back and relaxed and thought he was about to enjoy the show the siblings were putting on. 'How sweet, sibling rivalry!' he thought to himself. Without a sound, Kagome struggled sit up from where she had fallen. After succeeding at doing such, she silently took out her last arrow and shot it directly at Narakus heart. "Enjoy this!" she screamed, just as it hit his heart. Amazingly enough, that last arrow cut through his barrier, and struck him directly at where she had aimed.

A white streak of light, with a hint of a purple/pink color, emerged from where she had struck him, and with that, Naraku had exploded and vanished into a dark purple dust pile after letting out a bloodcurdling scream. Lying at the top of the pile was his piece of the Shikon no Tama. Suddenly, Kohaku fell to the ground, relieved of Narakus spell, but passed out. Kagome called over to Sango breathlessly, "Get the shards," and lied down, content that all of this was finally over.

Sango nodded and used her last amount of energy to walk over to the piece of the Sacred Jewel. After it rest peacefully in her hands, she allowed herself to collapse onto the battlefield to catch her breath and rest. After what seemed to be an hour of the heroes lying motionless on the grounds, Kagome dragged herself within arms reach of her closest friend, and laid her hand on top of hers. "Sango," she said in a hoarse whisper, "Sango," she tapped the top of her hand gently.

Tilting her head a little, Sango saw Kagome's smiling face, and a small smile crept across her face. "We did it," she said in a small voice, though still enthusiastically.

"Yeah, we did," Kagome smiled sadly. She knew that once the Jewel of Four Souls was complete, she would go back to her era and never see the rest of the crew ever again. She was no longer needed, and surly InuYasha didn't want her still around. 'Though, how happy could he be without Kikyo? He'd be all alone if he sent me home,' she thought morosely.

"Should we put the shards together?" Sango interrupted her thoughts.

Startled, Kagome quickly thought of a reason for her to stay a little longer. "I think we should wait for everybody to wake up before we do anything," she whispered, and then giggled, "We'd hate for InuYasha to get upset that we didn't wait for him to put it together!" Sango joined in with Kagomes chuckle, and they both sighed and allowed sleep to overcome them.

Kagura awakened a little bit, surprised that she was still living and no longer under the control of her evil creator. She looked around the area and saw so many bodies looking limp on the floor. Some of them dead, others passed out, and more of them just asleep. She was feeling quite drowsy as well, after such a fight, who wouldn't?

"I'm free…" she whispered, and fell peacefully back asleep, with a small smile placed upon her bloody face.

A/N: Wow! Chapter One is complete! Proud of me? I know I sure am! Sorry this is so short… the rest of the chapters won't be, though. Well, that's just me assuming that people are actually going to _read _this!


	2. Putting The Pieces Together

A/N :: Haha, yay! I got two reviews! I was expecting to go through this entire process and be lucky to get so much as one… yay! Jedi, don't worry… we're gonna get inside their heads ;D! Shadow-Goddess, who doesn't love InuYasha and Kagome romances?? Hehehe…. uhh I mean… yeah =)! Also, just so you all know… this isn't going to focus only on InuYasha and Kagome, there's going to be two other ::cough:: "relationships" going on (Mir:San, Sess:Kagr)… this is gonna be long, so prepare yourself for a read! I bought boots the other day, just wanted to inform you all of that. (Again, shut up and get on with it!) Okeydokey, here it is… so enjoy!!

Disclaimer :: InuYasha does not belong to me… ::sniffle!::

Chapter Two :: Putting The Pieces Together

Where the shard hunters lay looked just like a photograph, that's how little each one of them moved. The only element that showed any of these creatures were living were their chests moving up and down as they inhaled and exhaled, and when they would randomly flinch out of the pain they were feeling. Sango and Kagome were still positioned right beside each other, and everybody else was scattered across the field.

InuYasha tossed a little before sitting up abruptly. 'What happened?' he wondered, 'Where's Naraku?' He looked around suspiciously, curious as to where the cowardice who never sullies his own hands flew off to. So many things crossed his mind, mostly which concerned how his companions were. His eyesight was still a little blurry, so a blinked a few times to clear his vision.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw everybody laying still all around him. Frozen in place, he thought, 'Am I the only surviving one? I'm positive Naraku is still around, but… I can't smell or sense his presence,' he inquired. Forcibly pulling himself up from the ground, InuYasha steadied himself by using his Tesusaiga and peered around looking for survivors.

"Where's Kagome?" he whispered ever so quietly into the wind. The only thing on his mind was her. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't make himself think of anything else. After a minute of scanning the grounds around him, he came across her body. She was right next to Sango; they both looked so peaceful and relaxed. 'How come they appear so… so…' he stuttered, unable to find the right word to describe them, even in his thoughts. Kagome stirred a tiny bit.

Hope filled InuYasha's very being, and he darted over to her side. Of course, she didn't notice him until he was less than a centimeter from her face.

"What the…" Kagome said as a single droplet of blood dripped down from a cut on the haynou hovering face. Shocked to see his face so close to hers, she tried to move away out of pure reflex, and accidentally bumped her forehead against his. Unexpected of Kagomes actions, InuYasha fell backwards onto his rear.

"Oh, it's only you," she let out a relieved sigh, holding her hand over her heavily beating heart.

'She's alive!' InuYasha's eyes widened with happiness and he lunged forwards and clung very tightly to Kagomes wounded body, despite his mind screaming at him to not do such a thing. How uncharacteristic of him! He didn't care for a second, though, for he was so pleased to see her.

His actions surprised Kagome, and her body tensed up. Realizing just what he was doing, InuYasha pulled back and sat awkwardly, scooting a tiny bit away from her. "Heh…" he let out a nervous chuckle.

Still in complete shock, Kagome stayed in her same position for a few more seconds. She wanted to say something, but no words would come out of her mouth, and she couldn't even think straight. Noticing the uncomfortable position InuYasha was in, she finally came out of her trance, and pounced back at him. 'Hah, it's my turn to take him off guard!' she thought teasingly.

That's just what happened, which made her feel even happier. His back was on the ground and she was lying on top of him. 'Woah,' was all he could think. He wanted to tell her to get off because such a position should make him feel uneasy, but it didn't. Nobody was watching, right? They were all either unconscious or asleep, what did he have to worry? They couldn't see him expressing his human side to the love of his live, dare he admit it.

After thinking for a minute, he decided to wrap his arms around her and sit up. Kagome had a desire to speak, but the silence seemed to say more than either of them could put into words. Instead of ruining such a moment, they just sat close together, even though the way they were sitting was quite painful for both of them, for they were still very wounded.

"Someone's excited to see me," InuYasha said with a false sense of confidence to shield the butterflies she was giving him.

Kagome pulled back from him and stared deep into his golden eyes. Oh how lovely they were, should could just melt! She blushed a little, and he cocked his head to the side, unsure as to why she would be turning a light shade of pink. 'Oops, I'm blushing!' she thought. "What do you mean? You're the one who tackled me first!" she said to cover up for the blush.

"Uhh, well…" he stuttered, trying to come up with a story. She laughed at the pathetic attempt to conceal his true feelings, but was happy for that one moment they shared.

Sango laughed, "Aww look at the two lovebirds," she said in a faint voice that held a hint of happiness.

'Crap,' InuYasha thought, 'I thought she was sleeping!'

Kagome turned around to face Sango, still upon the ground, and rubbed the back of her head nervously. She quickly scrambled from the half demons lap and sat next to her best friend. Sango grasped Kagomes shoulder to aid herself in sitting up, and after a few minutes of struggling, the demon-exterminator finally was in the upright position. 'Where's Miroku?' she thought, but didn't allow her concern to slip out just yet.

Instead, she nudged Kagome in the side and gave her a smile and slightly nodded her head in InuYasha's direction, who was now looking anywhere but near those two.

Kagome quickly decided to change the subject, "The Shikon no Tama, we now have all the pieces!" she marveled as she held the two separate chunks of the Jewel lay in both of her hands. 'Once this is whole, our quest will be over, and I'll have t-'

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to put it together, wench?" InuYasha said with excitement unmistakably in his tone.

"Well," Kagome started off in a small voice, staring down sadly at the fragments in her hands, "I was going to wait until we got back to Kaedes village so that she could be there while we put it together…" she was trying to come up with anything that would keep the group together for just a little longer.

"Why should we wait for the old hag?" the haynou asked impatiently.

Sango understood why Kagome wanted to wait for Kaede. "Simply because it would be rude not to," she said matter-of-factly. Kagome glanced up at her friend and, 'Thank you,' was written all over her face. 'You're welcome,' she nodded.

InuYasha muttered a few curses under his breath, he didn't want them to think he, too, wanted to make their mission last a little longer. 'Anything to be with Kagome just a little longer.'

Something moved and made a great effort to get up in the distance. InuYasha's ears perked up a little, and he turned his head to see what made the noise.

"Miroku!!" Sango exclaimed as she gathered up her energy to go crawl over to him. "MirokumirokumirokuareyouokayareyouheartIwassoworriedI'msohappyyou'realive!" she said in one breath once she reached him, and collapsed over his body.

He chuckled, "Woah, slow down there, Sango!" he stroked her hair, and he coughed violently. Sango was slightly worried that he would try something, but she was reassured by his series of coughing. 'He doesn't have the energy, nor will, to do such things at a time like this.'

Slowly, Kagome and InuYasha walked over to Miroku, and the group was then joined by a tired Kirara, carrying an injured Shippo. At the sight of Shippo, Kagome quickly grabbed the little demon and cradled him in her arms. She rocked him as if he was a baby and stroked his head, careful to avoid his injuries.

"We better get back to Kaedes so that we can get the proper aid for our wounds," Miroku spoke up.

"Yeah, and so that we can put the shard together!" InuYasha said arrogantly.

Kagome turned her head towards him quickly and said very angrily, "You're such an insensitive jerk!"

InuYasha twitched. 'She wouldn't sit me, would she?' his eyes widened in suspense. Luckily for him, she decided to let him off the hook. He was going to argue further with her, but he knew very well that this was not worth fighting over. 'She's got a point,' he thought unhappily.

"We ready to go?" Sango asked as everybody started to rise to their feet.

"The faster we get there, the faster we can put the Shards together," InuYasha muttered. Kagome shot him a menacing look.

A few minutes later, the unit was off in the direction of Kaede's hut.

A little while after the crew left, Kagura regained her consciousness. She was aware that everybody had left, and that she was alone. "Naraku has been killed, so why do I continue living?" she asked herself out loud. "Kanna is dead, and the heart of Onigumo died along with Naraku," she had so many questions, but she was grateful that the higher being above (or below, for all she knew) had given her a second chance at life. 'Do I still have my powers?' she pondered.

She took out her fan and weakly called out one of her attacks to see if she was still able to use her powers. Preparing herself for the worst, Kagura found herself shocked to see that her abilities have not vanquished along with her creator. At that moment, a new feeling was born inside of her, which gave her strength to get up and move away from this field and leave this life of fear and hatred behind.

Smiling, she unleashed her means of transportation and floated slowly away from her old life, in search of something new.

Luckily, Kaedes village was not exceedingly distant from where the battle with their foes took place. After traveling through the rest of the night, the group found themselves looking forward to at least another day traveling by foot before they reached what they have called their home for quite some time, now.

Nearing a creek, the group decided to take a rest. It was a little before dawn, so it was still fairly dark out, but they had nothing remaining of what they needed to make camp. Every last piece perished in the battle at one point or another. Therefore, they could not stay somewhere for the night. Besides, if they were to postpone their arrival at home any longer, their wounds could become much more infected than they were already becoming.

Everyone was relaxing under trees that surrounded the creek, dozing off. Everyone but Kagome and InuYasha, it seemed. InuYasha was perched high in a tree, thinking to himself. He and Kagome had just gotten into another argument, and of course Kagome said the 'S' word. They were fighting over the Jewel of Four Souls. The dispute the two had over the Sacred Jewel was such a blur to him, he couldn't recall bits and pieces of it even if he tried. 'I should apologize,' he thought reluctantly, 'but I can't.' He argued in his mind with the thought for what felt like hours, going back and fourth as to why he should and should not apologize. The topic was starting to drive him insane.

'This wasn't even a huge argument, and,' he trailed off in his mind. 'I don't have to apologize, though I should try… but there isn't a point! She won't accept it, but there's no reason for me to apologize!' This wasn't going to be a relaxing stop, as it would be for the others, for him.

Walking off in another direction, Kagome decided she needed to clear her mind. Luckily for her, not too far from where they were resting, she found herself on top of a huge hill that overlooked a beautiful valley. Upset, she plopped herself heavily down on the top of the mount. 'Why do I let him get to me so much?' such thoughts were not new to her, yet the reality still hurt.

In her mind, she was also having a battle similar to the one that InuYasha was having. Though, she eventually stopped thinking about their prior argument and she continued on to think about other issues. 'Once we get back to Kaede's village, we will put the shard together. All of us know what InuYasha will do with the completed Jewel… He'll wish to be a full-fledged demon, and he will pursue his life of immortality while I am sent back through the well into my era. He'll completely forget about me. I'm no longer needed by him, I was just the girl they had around to pinpoint the jewel shards…' her fears seemed more and more realistic each and very day, with every argument the two had, and with every single step they took. She buried her face in her knees, and wrapped her arms around her legs. Her ebony hair covered nearly all of her body. All she wanted to do was conceal herself from the world. Nobody should see her like this, especially InuYasha.

As if on cue, the haynou approached her and sat beside her. She would never have known he was near her if it wasn't for his clothing brushing lightly against her arm. All the hairs on her body stood on end, and she slightly lifted her head to see him out of the corner of her eye. He simply sat next to her, not even looking at her. He looked calm, though very distant. A sweet wind gently blew his hair off to where Kagome was sitting. His silver locks brushed lightly against her back, caressing her very being.

After a little while, the sun began to slowly rise. As the first rays of sunlight shone onto Kagome, she lifted her head up and stared at the expanding sun. She stretched her legs out in front of her and leaned back. The show going on before her took her breath away. As the sun rose, so did the creatures that lived in the valley below them. Birds began to chirp, and squirrels scurried throughout the forest to gather acorns for the upcoming winter.

'What could he be thinking?' Kagome wondered. He still seemed far away… what was on his mind?

He didn't know who he loved more, Kikyo or Kagome. One was so kind, loving, trustworthy, and very selfless. The other was the same, but did not hold the same kind of love, nor was she to be trusted. 'I killed her with my bare hands because she turned against me. I never thought she'd be able to do that. I didn't even realize that I was tearing her to pieces…' he thought while sitting next to her reincarnation. 'Though, Kagome is so close to me… she believes in me so much…' his thoughts veered off, rambling on about all of Kagomes positive attributes. He would've blushed if she wasn't so close to him. 'I don't want her to know I'm thinking about her,' he thought.

Many more moments of silence passed, and Kagome decided to break the silence. "What do you want, InuYasha?" she said coldly.

He didn't respond, nor did he move.

"Did you come here for a reason, or just to bug me? Incase you haven't noticed, I came out over here to be alone! Now, if you came to talk, then you better start talking now!" She stared at him very forebodingly.

He still didn't respond.

"Can you hear me? Hellooo!" She knocked on his head, "Is any of this getting through into your thick skull?!"

He blinked. 'That's a start,' Kagome thought sarcastically to herself.

For a few more minutes she continued to insult him in such a manner, rambling on about how he's invading her personal space and how he should just go away.

Irritated, InuYasha stood up and looked down at Kagome. "I can hear you _fine_," he said freshly. "I came to tell you that after sunrise, we are going to set off back to Kaedes hut." He turned around and walked away, muttering curses to himself in hopes that she didn't hear him. Though, she heard him alright.

A little pissed, Kagome stood up and followed the haynou, and the way they walked looked nearly the same. When they arrived back with the others, they saw Sango resting her head peacefully upon Miroku's chest, which was evenly rising and falling with each breath he took. It was really a cute sight, but InuYasha did not feel like seeing it.

"Wake up!" he said in a loud voice that startled the two. "Let's go."

They nodded, realizing he was in a bad mood, and rose to their feet. Sango woke up Kirara and Shippo, and they were off.

The sun was finally starting to set, and the travelers found themselves less than half a mile away from the village. With each step they took towards Kaede, her heart sunk lower and lower. 'This is the last time I'll be coming back with them from any sort of battle,' she thought solemnly. The darkness then started to engulf the entire area, and the group was forced to slow down.

It was a New Moon.

"Great," InuYasha scowled to nobody in particular.

"Looks like we've got to continue by simply walking," Kagome said cheerfully.

Instead of leading the group as he usually would do, InuYasha fell back a few paces to stroll and be by himself. He couldn't help but think of Kagome, and it was evident, too. His eyes were starry and he was swaying when he walked. Not to mention, he was staring at the starlit sky above, instead of the ground below his feet.

The mood seemed to be catching on, for Sango glanced back at him and then followed his lead, without even noticing she was doing so. 'Miroku looks so handsome and calm,' she thought. 'What am I thinking?!' she scolded herself in her mind, and then looked back down at her feet, hanging her head in embarrassment. 'I shouldn't be thinking such things!'

Of course, Miroku was walking as he usually does and thinking of nothing other than what he normally thinks of: Girls. Mmm… girls. Though, it wasn't of all girls. Not of the pretty ones, but of 'the prettiest one,' as it went in his mind. So now Sango was on his mind. Mmm… Sango. He had many words to describe her in his mind, and unlike Sango, he did not force himself to banish such thoughts. 'Hey, it's what I'm known for in this group!' he chuckled very slightly under his breath.

They continued to walk on in such a manner until they noticed faint lights coming from candels in the villager's windows. Kagome jogged over to Kaede's hut, happy to find the elderly priestess still awake.

"Hello, Kagome!" she said cheerfully, "Where are they others?"

"Oh, they're coming," she thought for a second, "Guess what?!" she added on excidedly.

"What, dear child?"

"We beat Naraku!" Kaede rose to her feet to hug Kagome.

"How'd it go?"

"Well, it wasn't easy--" Kagome started, right as the others all barged in.

They all spent a few minutes greeting each other, and then after the excitement died down a little, and they were all gathered around a fire, Kagome told Kaede exactly what she remembered of the fight (of course with a few interruptions coming from the others so that they could include their input). After hearing such good news, Kaede went around the circle and congradulated each of them personally.

"So, what are ye waiting fer?" they all looked at her with quizzical looks on their faces. "Ye know, to piece together the Shikon no Kakeras!" she said enthusiastically.

"Well, the wench told us to wait until we got back to the village before we put it together," InuYasha scolded. "I don't know what's so special about _putting _it together…" he muttered that last part.

Kagome shot him a look that ran chills up and down his spine. "What?!" he put his hands up in defeat. She still glared at him.

"Let's not keep InuYasha waiting, go ahead, Kagome. Put the pieces together," Kaede instructed in a happy tone.

Laggardly, Kagome took the two separate pieces and placed each side in both of her hands. She stared down at them, the pink/purple light reflecting in her eyes. The glow from the shards made her look incredibly melancholy. "Hurry up!" InuYasha's impatient voice seemed far away. Snapping back to reality, Kagome pieced the shards together.

As the jewel became whole again, Kagome felt her heart completely die. She laid the now complete jewel down infront of the fire, and stood up. She stared at the jewel for a little while longer, and walked out of the hut.

Everybody else was entranced by the lovely Jewel of Four Souls, except for InuYasha. "Where are you going?" he called after her, following her out of the hut. She turned around on her heels and stared him down, the coldness in her eyes felt like one thousand stabbing knives against his skin.

"I'm going home." The words echoed in InuYashas head, and he seemed to freeze in place.

A/N :: Wooh! Chapter Two is done! Wow… that was a little longer than I expected! Oh well… get your moneys worth. What? You didn't pay anything?! Rip off!! (just kidding, of course!) Wow, I'm very excited that I think I'm just gonna go post this on and start Chapter Three!! You love me =) …yyaaaayyyy!


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